


Research

by pajama_cats



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21806380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pajama_cats/pseuds/pajama_cats
Summary: Gou looks into some of Ash’s past.
Relationships: Satoshi | Ash Ketchum/Gou
Comments: 23
Kudos: 498





	Research

_ "Mew? I met them a few times."  _

Gou had never been so excited until he heard Ash utter those words. Ash was already fascinating to him and now he learns  _ this?  _

How could anyone casually let that information drop? If it were him he'd be replaying those events day and night! 

Then again Ash has more experience with traveling than he did. 

But Gou was also a man of research; he thrived on learning as much as he could about Pokemon, so it wouldn't hurt to do the same about Ash, right? 

Ash, who gave him little to nothing to work on. You'd think someone with so many years of traveling would have hours worth of stories. 

Yet he was so vague and didn't remember every little detail like Gou does. That's fine. He could always find other means to get the information he wanted. 

Which, of course would be the internet. There had to be plenty of stories about Ash, right? He was already told by Ash himself how he recently won the Alola League much to Gou's amazement.

Of course Ash won. He deserved to.

Simply typing in Ash's name into his Rotom phone brought up a  _ flood  _ of headlines. 

"Alola Champion having hidden scars..?" Gou read aloud, furrowing his eyebrows and clicking the link. It was most likely some small story blown out of proportion, but it sparks Gou's interest anyway. 

There's a video attached to the article that Gou skims and decides to watch whatever horror he may encounter.

_ "Yeah I met him once,"  _ Says the guy getting interviewed.  _ "He once jumped in between Mew and Mewtwo, and what did he get for that? Got turned into stone! That guy is crazy reckless."  _

Gou freezes, slowly trying to process how that was even possible and yet it didn't stop him from feeling uneasy. 

When Ash first told him he met Mew he was jealous. He exclaimed how he met Mew as a kid and how he beat Ash when it came to knowing Mew first. 

Now he feels horrible to know Ash had such an awful encounter with the legendary. 

Apparently that wasn't the only bad encounter either. 

Gou watches with intensity how various trainers tell stories about Ash; how they once witnessed him go after legendary to another legendary, describing how  _ reckless  _ he was and nearly dying in the process. 

Why was Ash such a legendary magnet? And why did every encounter lead to tragedy? 

Well.. Not every encounter. 

There were probably stories out there telling how Ash had bonded with the legendaries and how some repaid his kindness. Though he's not sure where to find those stories..

Maybe if he contacted some of Ash's old traveling companions..

It's not until Gou gets to the end of the video that his heart drops. While all the stories could have been made up or exaggerated they actually had video evidence of Ash doing something reckless. 

And that happened to be jumping off of Prism Tower to save his Pikachu. 

Gou completely forgets the fact that Ash is here with him who is in fact living and breathing, but his heart doesn't stop pounding until he sees Ash safe and sound on the ground after a Mega Blaziken saved his, and Pikachu's life.

No wonder Ash had been so stubborn—  _ passionate _ about helping out the Ivysaur. If he was willing to nearly kill himself for the sake of a Pikachu of course he wouldn't turn his head to a Pokemon struggling to get over a minor obstacle. It's just who he was. 

Gou sets his phone down deciding for once that he didn't need to keep digging on this particular research. Arceus, how could Ash smile through so much pain? To Gou he was like literal sunshine.

Gou sighs, hoisting himself up from his bed. The urge to go find Ash and make sure he's okay is entirely strong. 

*******

It's around dinner time that Gou finds Ash stuffing his plate full of food, but before he even sits down Gou pulls him into a sudden embrace.

Because really, this champion  _ deserved  _ the hug. A lot of hugs actually.

"What's this about?" Ash laughs, awkwardly patting Gou on the back. He probably looks silly and he can feel his ears burning, but after a beat Gou pulls away as if he were burned. 

"J-just wanted a hug.." Gou replies weakly. He's a little flustered (what else is new?), and he ignores Ash's curious gaze in favor of turning his back away, trying to preoccupy himself by filling up his own plate. 

When they're both half finished with their plates Gou sets his fork down, gazing at Ash warily. With so much on his mind he wasn't about to bombard Ash with questions. Maybe just one at a time would suffice.

"Hey Ash, was that the first time you've met Lugia too..?" It couldn't be, could it? 

"We go way back!" Ash exclaims as Gou avoids the splatter of food that comes from Ash. Er, he probably should have asked that when Ash wasn't eating.

Gou can only furrow his eyebrows unsure if he should push the matter. Thankfully Ash gets back to him, and without a mouthful.

"Though it's the first time Lugia ever took me for a joy ride. And the first time I heard it speak too.. Glad to see it's doing well!" And with that said Ash happily returns to his food. It was as if they were just talking about the weather the way Ash acts like it's no big deal (again).

Gou realizes there's so much to learn and experience with Alola's champion who has apparently avoided death one too many times. 

"I hope we meet again.." Gou mumbles to himself, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. Glancing over he sees his Scorbunny trying to steal out of Pikachu's bowl. Greedy little thing.

Despite that Gou finds himself smiling so fondly at the pair of Pokemon. Maybe it was okay that Mew wasn't his starter Pokemon. It would be his first  _ legendary  _ pokemon then! Or maybe his first psychic pokemon..

What's important is that he had someone like Ash did— a Pokemon partner that he'd get to have so many adventures with.

And at least now he would be able to protect Ash.

**Author's Note:**

> Gou would 1000% want to protect Ash if he knew everything he’s been through you can’t tell me otherwise
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
